The Not-So-Lucky Potion
by snarky24
Summary: Harry learns about what Ginny would do with Felix Felicis and inadvertently gets stuck in the middle of a Quidditch quarrel. A HBP missing moment that explores what happened after Harry returned to Slughorn's party. It takes place immediately after Harry overhears Draco and Snape at the Slug Club party and tries to stay very close to canon. Prequel to "Secrets and Slugs"


Harry hurried back to Slughorn's party. He didn't want Snape to notice his absence and put together that he had been spying on them. If he could make it through another half hour of mingling, he could quietly make his exit for the night.

Once inside Slughorn's office again, he scanned the crowd for Hermione, bursting to share what he'd overheard between Snape and Malfoy. Finally he had proof that Malfoy was up to something!

But after a couple minutes of searching in vain, Harry concluded that Hermione had already left for the night. He would have to wait to tell her until he was back in the common room.

Harry shifted his focus to finding Snape. He needed Snape to see him at the party again to prevent suspicion. As he pushed through the crowd, he caught a glimpse of familiar red hair. Ginny and Dean were talking to McLaggen just a few feet away.

All thoughts of Snape vanished, and Harry felt suddenly a bit lighter. He grinned at the look of mild disgust on Ginny's face as McLaggen talked, gesturing wildly. She was standing next to Dean with her arms folded in flowy dress robes made of a shimmery blue material that gleamed in the light.

"You two carry on. I'm getting a drink," he heard her say to Dean and McLaggen. Before they could respond, she turned on her heel he walked away, her long red hair dancing behind her. Without thinking, Harry grabbed two bottles of Butterbeer from a passing house-elf and followed her.

Ginny snaked through the crowd so quickly that Harry could barely keep up. He was so focused on her bobbing head in the crowd that he nearly tripped over a couple of house-elves.

She finally stopped when she reached the corner and leaned against the wall with her back to Harry.

He tapped her on the shoulder.

"Fancy a Butterbeer?"

Ginny turned, her face breaking into a smile as she saw Harry's face. "Thank you, Harry!" She took a long swig and let out a sigh. "Perfect timing. I just—"

"All right, Harry?" Dean appeared by Ginny's side. He draped his arm around Ginny's shoulders and gave her a small squeeze.

Hot blood flooded Harry's brain as he fought to keep his face impassive. Did Dean really need to be pawing at her in public?

Harry managed to give Dean a nod. Ginny let out a small chuckle. "Wow, you shook McLaggen pretty quick."

"No thanks to you! You ditched me with him, and you didn't even grab me a drink!" Dean teased, leaning over to give Ginny a quick kiss on the head.

Harry barely heard them over the sound of blood pounding in his ears. He wanted to rip off Dean's arm for hanging all over Ginny while they were in the middle of a conversation.

"If you're going for a drink, can you get me a Chocolate Cauldron too please?" said Ginny sweetly.

"Sure, I'll be right back," grinned Dean, finally removing his arm from Ginny's shoulders. Harry felt the heat in his head started to recede now that the offending arm was out of the way.

"We've both just escaped from McLaggen. He ambushed us asking if we'd seen Hermione," Ginny explained as Dean walked away. Her hair was slightly mussed from Dean's manhandling, and she ran her free hand through it to smooth it back out as she leaned back against the wall.

Harry exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and leaned next to her, considering what she had said.

"I'm afraid my not-so-lucky Felix Felicis potion might be to blame for Hermione inviting McLaggen," he said heavily. While he didn't regret tricking Ron for the good of the team, he did regret the unintended consequence of sparking their latest fight.

Ginny shook her head. "No, she brought him because Ron was being a git. I support her, even if I can't stand McLaggen. Besides, you have to actually _drink_ the potion to have good luck!"

He secretly agreed with Ginny, but knew better than to take sides when it came to Ron and Hermione. After a moment, he turned to her, so that his shoulder was against the wall and he was facing her.

"What would you do with lucky potion?" he asked.

"Besides rigging Quidditch matches?" she smirked, turning toward Harry to face him. His pulse quickened from the sudden closeness. Her face, framed by her fiery hair, was now about a foot away from him.

"Slughorn says it's illegal," he responded. He took another swig of Butterbeer as she pursed her lips, looking up as she thought.

"Assuming it won't make me lucky enough to defeat a certain Dark wizard…" she said slowly, breaking off as she considered her answer.

Harry saw Dean over her shoulder making his way toward them with a goblet of mead and a Chocolate Cauldron. His face grew hot at the thought of him rejoining them.

"Don't look—McLaggen is coming," he said quickly. Ginny froze as Harry stepped around her, waving his wand at Dean. _Confundo,_ he thought.

Dean stopped, his face going blank. After a moment, he turned and wandered back into the crowd, waving idly to a group of students Harry didn't know.

Satisfied that he would not come back for a little while, Harry returned to his spot against the wall with a nod to Ginny.

"I would use the potion to go on an adventure," she said brightly. "I loved exploring the pyramids in Egypt. There are a lot of powerful magical artifacts in the tombs that wizards are still uncovering today. But Mum wouldn't let me go see any of the interesting stuff last time we went. I'd love to go back on my own. With some luck, maybe I'd discover something incredible!"

"I heard there are a lot of snakes hiding in those pyramids. Maybe you'd need someone who can talk to them to help you out?"

"Hm, good point," she said, furrowing her brow. "But do you think Voldemort will be available?"

Harry chuckled. "No, I think he's a bit busy at the moment. Are you sure you don't know any other Parselmouths who'd want to join you?"

"I supposed I could take Salazar Slytherin's portrait from Dumbledore's office, but he'd be a drag to lug around," she replied glibly.

"Indeed," Harry replied, still smiling. "I think you need someone with Gryffindor courage who has been on a few adventures before and has proven that he's got your back."

"Are _you_ auditioning for my adventure, Harry?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Me?" Harry replied, with mock surprise. "Sure, I'll put my hat in the ring."

Ginny laughed, leaning forward a bit so her hair fell into her face. She brushed her hair back with her hand, still laughing.

"Tell you what," she breathed between giggles. "You can come only if I get to go on _your_ lucky adventure."

Harry felt a rush of warmth run up his spine and into his face. He wanted to drink the potion immediately, push her back against the wall, and kiss her senseless. He imagined running his hands through her long, silky hair, soft strands slipping between his fingers as she pressed her warm body against his. Perhaps her thin robes would ride up as they clawed at each other, urgently needing to get closer. He wondered if he would be able to taste the Butterbeer on her lips...

But the sudden urge was extinguished as Harry remembered that Ginny had given up on him. Felix Felicis could only help him do what was already possible. He doubted that it would be powerful enough to change her heart. Even if he could, he wouldn't want it that way.

"Of course," he said finally, still hot around the collar. He rubbed his hand behind his neck as he cast around for something to say. "But I'm waiting for the right time. Maybe I won't need any luck if I'm patient enough."

Ginny bit her lip, her eyes darting down to her drink.

"There you are!" came a voice behind Harry that shot through him like an electric shock. He spun around to see Dean.

He strode past Harry and threw his arm around Ginny. Harry groaned inwardly.

Ginny looked confused. "We've been here the whole time. And where's my Chocolate Cauldron?"

"What? I thought we were talking about Quidditch," said Dean. Harry suspected that the Confundus Charm hadn't quite worn off yet.

"Who was talking about Quidditch? What are you talking about?" Ginny slipped out from under Dean's arm to take a closer look at his face. Her eyes darted from Dean to Harry, furrowing her brow. Harry tried to keep his face immobile.

"Harry, maybe you can help us settle a dispute," said Dean, oblivious to Ginny's concern and Harry's silence.

Harry did not trust himself to get involved. He decided it was better for him to leave before Ginny put together what he'd done. "I'd rather not—"

"Come on, you're the Captain—" pressed Dean.

"There's no point. He's just going to agree with me," said Ginny shortly.

"No, he won't because he's a Seeker," insisted Dean.

"Why don't you just tell me, so we can get on with it?" said Harry hotly, annoyed that Dean would presume to know what Harry would think. Perhaps taking the bait would distract Ginny long enough for Dean to fully recover from Confundus Charm.

"Go ahead, tell him your crazy idea for the next match," said Dean, smirking.

Ginny gave Dean a withering look. She turned to Harry. "Harry, as you know, Hufflepuff has the best defense this year, so I think we need to redirect some of the Beater support to the Chasers—"

"And leave me open to get pummeled by Bludgers? Most of our games are won by catching the Snitch," said Harry, recalling a particularly nasty Bludger attack that had landed him in the Hospital Wing.

"True, but with Hufflepuff's defense, it may be tough to keep the point differential within 150 unless we give up a Beater to protect the Chasers," Ginny countered.

Harry cocked his head to the side as he considered her strategy. If he was honest with himself, she had a point, especially when he took into account that Ron could be an unpredictable Keeper. But there were risks...

"I don't know if I could hold off both of Hufflepuff's Beaters long enough to—"

"See?" interrupted Dean smugly, looking at Ginny as if this decided the matter. "Every team puts both of their Beaters on the Seeker! Even Harry agrees—"

"No, I don't!" Harry retorted. He didn't need Dean putting words in his mouth. "I'm just not sure I want to give up—"

But Dean cut Harry off again. "Giving up a Beater is basically writing off 150 points from the Seeker!"

"I'm not _giving up—_ I mean, yes, I'm suggesting we give up on the two-Beater strategy," said Ginny quickly. "But I'm not _writing off_ a chance at the See—er, stitch! _Snitch!_ " She looked flustered as she stumbled over the last few words.

"What do you mean—" started Harry, but Dean cut him off yet again.

"A chance at the what?"

"I meant that it's a calculated risk. We have the best Seeker in the league, so we can pull it off," Ginny said hurriedly. "Here, Harry, let me show you…"

Ginny raised her wand and drew "XOXO"with golden light in the air.

"No, not here, Ginny," protested Dean, waving his wand to Vanish her marks. "This isn't a locker room!"

" _You_ asked me to show Harry—"

"Harry's heard enough. We both know you want to just give up—"

"You must be _Confunded_ —" Ginny shot a furtive look at Harry "—if you think that's what I'm saying."

Seeing where this was going, Harry tried to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand. "Obviously nobody is Confunded here! You're both making some good points, but I do think I need to see this to make a decision," he said in what he hoped was a casual tone.

"Alright, look at this then," said Ginny, pulling out a few pieces of parchment.

"You brought the diagram?" asked Dean incredulously.

"Of course! I always have it with me in case I get more ideas," snapped Ginny.

She moved closer Harry and turned so she could stand beside him. Her arm lightly rested against Harry's, sending a swooping sensation through his stomach.

Dean stepped on her other side as she unrolled the parchment. Harry could see a drawing of a Quidditch pitch with X's and O's that he assumed were meant to represent the players. Ginny tapped her wand on the parchment, and they started to move.

"See, if we put Peakes over here…"

Harry leaned over to see the drawing more clearly as she described the play. It was difficult to see with the dark hangings and the dim light. Her hair was inches from his face, and he caught a pleasant waft of flowers. He inhaled deeply...

"So? What do you think?" Ginny was looking up at Harry expectantly.

"Er—it looks great. We can start practicing it next week," he said weakly. He had not heard a word she was saying.

Ginny's face lit up. "Really? You're not just saying that?"

"You really want to take a Bludger to the head, just so Ginny can score a few more goals?" scoffed Dean, clearly put out that Harry had sided with Ginny.

Harry decided that he would gladly take one hundred Bludgers to the head if it made Ginny happy.

"If it doesn't work, we'll scrap it. But we might as well try."

"Good luck with that," groaned Dean, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe we won't need any luck if you're patient enough, Harry," said Ginny with a broad grin.

Harry smiled, feeling both exhilarated and exhausted at the same time. "We can talk about the details later. I'm going to turn in for the night."

He bid them a good night and headed for the door. He passed a house-elf with a tray of Chocolate Cauldrons on his way.

" _Wingardium Leviosa,"_ he muttered. One of the pastries floated off of the tray, and Harry guided it with his wand toward Ginny.

He didn't wait to see her face before he pushed through the door.


End file.
